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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Cyrus W. Field Cable Section and Letter, Ms1989-053 Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Cyrus W. Field Cable Section and Letter were purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1989.
The processing and description of the Cyrus W. Field Cable Section and Letter commenced and was completed in February 2022.
Cyrus West Field, son of Rev. David D. and Submit Dickinson Field, was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on November 30, 1819. Around 1834, he moved to New York City, where he became a business apprentice in the offices of A. T. Stewart & Co., a dry goods merchant, then worked in his brother's paper-manufacturing business before establishing his own paper-manufacturing business in 1840. That same year, Field married Mary Bryan Stone; the couple would have seven children. Around 1842, with Joseph F. Stone, his brother-in-law, Field established Cyrus W. Field & Co., a very successful paper wholesaling firm. In 1854, Field became ivolved in telegraphy and with other investors formed the American Telegraph Company in 1855. In 1857, the company began laying the first trans-Atlantic telegraph line, between Ireland and Newfoundland. The cable was opened for use the following year but malfunctioned after only three weeks. Eight years later, Field laid a second trans-Atlantic cable, afterward repairing the original cable for use as a backup. From 1877 to 1880, Field served as president of the New York Elevated Railroad Company and also participated in the development of the Wabash Railroad. Through bad investments, Field lost much of his fortune in later life. Cyrus West Field died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on July 12, 1892, and was buried in Stockbridge Cemetery.
This collection consists of a section (4.5 in.) of cable cut from the original trans-Atlantic telegraph cable, laid in 1858 by the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Attached to the cable section is a tag identifying it as the property of A. H. Griffith. Accompanying the cable section are two photocopies of a letter of authentication dated August 31, 1858, and signed by Cyrus W. Field, co-founder of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. The letter explains that the section was part of the unused portion of the cable, sold to Tiffany & Co. (Tiffany purchased 80 miles of the cable to be cut into small sections, sold as souvenirs.)
Worldcat.org shows a number of archival collections related to Cyrus W. Field at various instiutions in the United States, but the bulk of his papers are in the Cyrus W. Field papers, MssCol 993, at the Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.
The guide to the Cyrus W. Field Cable Section and Letter by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).